The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-05-01
DIVINING-RODS.
Tests Made With Set OF them
Owned in Chicago.

A set of divinlng-rOuS are tne IaIos'
ACQUISITION to Chicago's collection OF
wonders. Not a diyining-rod such as
has been u:ed for the last eighteen or
nineteen centuries, and which every
man who has lived in "drouthy
Kansas" knows of, but a whole set OF
rods. The ancient divIning-rod was
witch hazel or ash twig, forked, and
with it precious metals could be located,
though hidden many feet below the sur
face of the earth. 1t was also said to be
an unfailing Indicator of hidden sources
of water. The set of rods to which al
fusion is made here has not all these
powers. Their only affinities are gold
aud silver. and these two metals they
will ALWAYS locate. AT least 50 say :
their owner, a middle-aged and very In.
telligent lady, living at No. 6l Thirty
seventh Street. a Tribune reporter
called upon her and obtained some in
formation concerning the rods. and was
also permitted to see them and to watch
their action. They are slender pieces OF
fibrous wood, four in number, and lit
lie larger than ordinary lead pencil.
TAeV look like the common hemp, but
are stained red. One end Of each OF the
sticks is Whitfield down to point While
the other is cut in the shape OF so
that the ends tit into each other. When
their owner brought them out and ex-
hibited them she remarked: Il don t
know that YOU will be convinced OF the
efficacy of these little sticks, because
thew are so simple. But you know the
greatest things have been achieved by
simple instruments. l only claim that
there is a affinity between these STICKS
and the metals gold and silver, and L
have demonstrated the fact so often
that nv claim can not be shaken. l
obtained the sticks from friend OF
mine who spent many years i'll Mexico
among the Mexican Indians, and who
was by them placed in possession OF the
secret powers of this shrub, which grows
in the mountains of that country. These
little sticks which you see here located
$50, OO0 in gold which had been hidden
in Monterey, Mexico, and since L have
had them 81 900 buried in an open field
in New York State was located by them.
But one needs to be educated somewhat
to understand the instruments" =
The ladv then gave the reporter two
of the sti. K with instructions to hold
them by b points between the thamt
and first tlnger, the point of the index
finger of each hand touching each
other. She took hold of the other two
sticks in the same manner, fixed the
notched ends together, and awaited de-
velopments. But beyond slight quly-
ering of the sticks, such as might have
arisen from the muscular tension
though the sticks were held very lightly
there were no developments. Wait {
moment" said the lady, 1.-The little
things don't know what to do. Yor
have gold and silver about you, haven
you? Yes, watch and chain. An
see, they begin to move" and the sticks
began to bob up and down, apparently
of their own volition, for neither the re
porter nor the lady did anything to pro
duce such action. Then, that the actor
| of the sticks might be seen to better ad
vantage, the reporter placed his Watcf
and chain and some gold and silver OF
the table in an adjoining room. ant
again took hold of the sticks, which
soon began to swing around toward tn
table containing the metal. The posi-
| tioh of the table was then changed sew
eral times, and the sticks carried Int
other rooms, but whenever the notchet
ends were fitted together they swung
q round in the direction OF the reporter
deposit.
Now" said the owner of the collec
ton. II know YOU are not satisfied Il
your own mind that this is fair test
that l did not cause the rods to move
But it is fact that 1 had nothing to d
with it, and also that any two person
can hold the rods and the same result
will ensue. l am thinking OF trying t
devise some arrangement for delicatel
poising the rods so that they will be re
moved altogether from human in6u
ence, l know they will operate tha
Way as we'll as in my hands. And the,
will also locate gold and silver in noun
tains or plains. Take it in large ares
and they will point toward the treasur
until they are directly over it, and the
they will begin to spread apart. Whe
they do that you may know you hav
found treasure. A city iS bad place
make test of these instruments. be
cause there is so much metal roun
about one to affect the instruments. L
give YOU an illustration: l was tryin
an experiment with one of my friends
the house here one day. He had con
cealed some money, and l was to find
with the aid of the rods. Well, whe
they were placed in position they il
sisted on moving toward an open wiz
dow that faced an open window In Il
house adjoining. The gentleman ha
not gone out of the house, and he raile
me about the failure of the rods al
said he had the money in his poke
But knew there was something wron
and that the rods were telling the trut
and sure enough, learned short tin
thereafter that there was fine dlspls
of wedding presents in the house oppt
site, and of course the attraction for Il
sticks was toward the greatest quaint
of metal. This same phenomenon W
witnessed in New York State where 5,
500 were hidden ia a field in two pac
ages, one of 81 600 aud the other Of S5C
The rods passed directly over the So
and indicated the spot where the 81 o
were buried"
The visitor was compelled to adm
that he didn't think the test he had W
messed was sufficient to dissipate his Ct
\ dulity, aud was invited to come agai
when preparations might be made for
more thorough and exacting test of I
merits of the rods. Subsequently
met MIR. F. Morgan. who is employed
Manasse, and was told by Mr.. Morg
that he and a friend named Wagr
had seen the sticks at work, and III
had apparently located a box contai